The use of aircraft is vital for transporting individuals and shipping products. During peak travel times, over five thousand airplanes may be in the sky each hour in the United States. Air traffic controllers direct each aircraft in the air to ensure safe operation of each aircraft and to maintain a safe distance between each aircraft.
Airspace around airports is especially congested. This problem is exacerbated at large airports where many aircraft are departing and landing in short intervals of time. An air traffic controller may direct a pilot to adjust an aircraft's heading, speed and altitude to begin the runway approach. Air traffic controllers base their directions to each aircraft to establish an efficient approach procedure for each aircraft. On the final leg of a runway approach, an air traffic controller must ensure aircraft separation. For example, it may be desired that each aircraft has at least ninety-one (91) seconds of time separation between landings. As a result, the air traffic controller must add extra buffers to allow margins for pilots to ensure a safe landing approach for each aircraft. However, a delay of a first aircraft to land may cause a daisy-chain effect which causes a delay in other aircraft waiting to land. Consequently, an efficient method and system for landing aircraft while maintaining safe separation among aircraft is necessary.